Just wondering if anyone has heard of having to renew there license every year.. is it because I have a vanity call.For the last couple of years the FCC have been requiring me to renew every year and charging me to do so..if I have to give up the vanity call to keep from getting charged and renewing every year then so be it.Anyone have any information regarding this topic please let me know.thanksFloyd ProvoN8FP

Just wondering if anyone has heard of having to renew there license every year.. is it because I have a vanity call.For the last couple of years the FCC have been requiring me to renew every year and charging me to do so..if I have to give up the vanity call to keep from getting charged and renewing every year then so be it.Anyone have any information regarding this topic please let me know.thanksFloyd ProvoN8FP

According to the FCC database, you got your vanity call on 6/11/2002, renewed it on 5/1/2012, and now hold a license that will expire on 6/11/2022. Who is telling you that you have to renew every year?

I will go thru my filling cabinet and get the documentation out that has been asking and charging me to renew every year. I thought this was strange.. thanks to all that replied. I will look into the documentation and report back.thanksFloydN8FP

If there has been any number of disciplinary actions against a person or his license especially if communications (even non-ham) related the FCC MAY require a year by year renewal.

In the late '60s a now deceased ham friend of mine got "spanked" for playing with 'blue' and 'black' boxes (telephone cheating devices) and was set up by the FCC for yearly renewals. After letting his ticket lapse for almost two decades, he got back into it and got a regular ten year license; he also got a 1X3 vanity call a bit later.

"The FCC charges an annual fee for the Vanity call sign (payable up front for the entire ten year license term) FCC Regulatory Fee."

Perhaps N8FP didn't pay for the entire renewal period?

The fee may be quoted as an annual rate, but the parenthetical note states that it is charged based on the full term of the license issued. Since any new vanity issue is for a ten-year term, the fee charged is ten times the annual rate. The same is true for any renewal.

"The FCC charges an annual fee for the Vanity call sign (payable up front for the entire ten year license term) FCC Regulatory Fee."

Perhaps N8FP didn't pay for the entire renewal period?

The fee may be quoted as an annual rate, but the parenthetical note states that it is charged based on the full term of the license issued. Since any new vanity issue is for a ten-year term, the fee charged is ten times the annual rate. The same is true for any renewal.

There is no way to pay only for a partial term.

I'm confused (no surprise since I'm a newbie). Are you saying a vanity call sign runs $150, as in $15 a year? If that's the case, I'll most likely stick with whatever I'm assigned.

I'm confused (no surprise since I'm a newbie). Are you saying a vanity call sign runs $150, as in $15 a year? If that's the case, I'll most likely stick with whatever I'm assigned.

No. If that's what it seemed to you then I wasn't clear. Here's the long form version.

Somewhere on the FCC web site there is a document that describes all their fees for various licenses. This document covers everything--not just amateur licenses but broadcast licenses, commercial licenses, and all of the other services. Embedded within that document is the note that states what they charge for amateur vanity licenses, and that note defines an annual fee.

An amateur vanity application, though, will result in the issuance of a new station license with a full ten-year term. (It's considered a new license since the callsign changes, not a renewal or modification of your existing license.) They require you to pay the license fee in advance, and since you are getting a ten-year term, the required payment is ten years' worth of the annual fee. So the $15 fee you see charged is for ten years; the annual fee quoted in the official FCC "fee disclosure" is one-tenth of that.

The word 'annual' should not be there. The fee is paid in one installment, and the rate changes nearly every year. The $15 was for the entire ten year period, not totalling $150, but simply the $15 paid when the license was renewed.

The word 'annual' should not be there. The fee is paid in one installment, and the rate changes nearly every year. The $15 was for the entire ten year period, not totalling $150, but simply the $15 paid when the license was renewed.

You're right that the collected fee is $15, but the FCC bases and defines that fee on an annual rate of $1.50. The ARRL's parenthetical note makes it clear that the annual fee is collected in advance for the full license term.

The official FCC R&O on fees for FY2012 is found here. (The R&O for FY2013 may not have been issued yet, and I couldn't find the NPRM.) Attachment B on page 14 has a table that lists regulatory fees. The intro to the table states "Regulatory fees for the categories shaded in gray are collected by the Commission in advance to cover the term of the license and are submitted at the time the application is filed." (All of the non-gray lines in the table are for one-year licenses.) The line for amateur vanity calls is in gray, so it is subject to the intro above. It quotes the regulatory fee as $1.50, and notes the term as ten years.

So yes, the collected fee is $15 at the time of application. But since the ARRL is using almost the same words as the FCC's official documentation, I can't fault them for the wording.

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